Distinction Between Script and Language

A language is a system of communication with its own vocabulary and grammatical rules; it may exist in spoken or signed form without being written. A script is a conventional set of visible signs used to record a language. Thus, language supplies meaning and structure, while script supplies the graphic form.

The relationship between script and language

The relationship is not one-to-one: the same script can represent several languages, and the same language can be written in different scripts.

• Devanagari is used to write languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and Sanskrit.
• Sanskrit has historically been written in Devanagari and several regional scripts; changing the script does not necessarily change the language.
• Transliteration converts text from one script into another, whereas translation renders its meaning in another language.

Constitutional illustration

The Constitution keeps the two concepts distinct. Article 343 specifies that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi and that its script shall be Devanagari.

• The Eighth Schedule identifies constitutionally recognised languages, not a single mandatory script for every listed language.
• The expression “Hindi in Devanagari script” separately identifies the language and the writing system used to represent it.

Importance for ancient inscriptions

Historians must identify both the writing system and the language encoded by it. Recognising signs as a script does not automatically reveal their sounds, words or meaning.

• Many Ashokan inscriptions express Prakrit through the Brahmi script, while some north-western inscriptions use Kharosthi.
• The signs on Harappan objects are conventionally called the Harappan script, but because they remain undeciphered, the language represented by them has not been securely identified.
• Decipherment requires establishing reliable sign values and demonstrating that the resulting readings produce a coherent language.